<p>With the ongoing budget crisis, does that mean that all the Ivy League Schools (even the lower tier ones, like Cornell and Brown), would be a better choice than to attend UCB or UCLA?</p>
<p>What are you looking for in a school?
The tuition if you are in-state is significantly less than that of Ivy Leagues.
The research of Berkeley and LA are some of the best in the nation, maybe even on par with top Ivy Leagues.
The quality of education you get is excellent, especially for the tuition. Classes may be larger than that of Ivy League schools though.
The name of the institution of Berkeley/LA are at least on par with Cornell/Brown. Over seas, Berkeley/LA is more well known than that of lower tier Ivies because of our research.</p>
<p>That isn’t to say that UCs are better undergraduate institutions than Cornell/Brown, but you really have to ask yourself what you are looking for in an institution. Note that Berkeley/LA have a lot of students so it is easy to get lost in the crowd; and classes, especially in the biosciences, may be more difficult due to the curve, etc. In other words, you won’t get as much personalised attention as you would in a private school. However, the UCs do offer the same services but you just have to look for them yourself.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>Well, you could have made the case that, for undergrad, all Ivies were better than the UC’s even before any budget cutbacks. {Note, I am not saying that I necessarily agree with that case; I am simply saying that the case could have been made.}</p>